Framing mechanism for moving-picture machines



Dec. 9 1924- 1,518,373 T. F. UHLEMANN' ET AL FRAMING MECHANISM FORMOVING PICTURE MACHINES Filed April 10, 1920 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 Dec, 9, T.F. UHLEMANN ET AL FRAMING MECHANISM FOR MOVING PICTURE MACHINES Filed AriI 10 20 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 IJI'HHH 678g Mommy Dec. 9, 1924. 1,518,373

T. F. UHLEMANN ET AL FRAMING MECHANISM FOR MOVING PICTURE MACHINES FiledApril 10 1920 5 Sheet$She,t 5

Patented Dec. 9, 1924.

UNITED STATES THEODORE F. UHLEMANN AND WILLIAM ELLWOOD,

PATENT OFFICE.

OF NEW YORK, N. Y., ASSIGNORS T0 NICHOLAS BOWER'COMPANY, INC., OF NEWYORK, N. Y., A CORPORATION OF DELAWARE.

FRAMING MECHANISM FOR MOVING-PICTURE MACHINES.

Application filed April 10, 1920. Serial No. 372,763.

clare the following to be a full, clear, and" exact description of theinvention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which itappertains to make and use the same.

- This invention relates to framing mechanisms for motion picturemachines, and has for its object to provide a framing mechanism in whichthe framing of the picture is effected by giving to the feeding sprocketan extra motion, either forward or backward, of sufficient extent tocorrect the displacement of the picture at the aperture.

Such framing mechanisms have heretofore been employed, particularly inthe beater type of machine, and also in the intermittent sprocket typeby utilizing a planetary gear for driving the feed sprocket, the framingbeing effected by a manual adjustment of the normally stationary gearsupport of the planetary train. Such framing mechanisms have thedisadvantage that the adjustment of the feed sprocket through aplanetary gear, while satisfactorily effecting the extra feed at the-moment of adjustment necessary to accomplish the framing, also destroysthe timed relation between the feed interval and the driving gear. Theshutter is thus thrown out of synchronism with the picture feed andunless means are provided to correct it, the picture will show thestreaks or so-called ghosts resulting from the film being uncoveredduring a portion of its movement.

Our invention has for its object to provide a framing mechanism in whichthe feed sprocket is driven through a. form of gearing sprocket througha planetary gear we employ a driving gear operating on the same generalprinciple as that described in the patent. to Uhlemann, No. 1,351,814wherein the intermediate gearing is carried by two adjustable andrelatively adjust-able parts, both parts being positively adjusted inthe framing operation to simultaneously adjust the different members ofthe driving train to compensate for any change in the time of operationof the intermittent feed which would otherwise occur were only oneadjustment employed.

Our invention also comprises a construction in which the gearing isdesigned so that the advancement or retardation of the intermittent feedresulting from the framing operation is reduced to such an extent thatthe provision for compensating neces sary for exact synchronism may bedispensed with without seriously detracting from the quality of theprojection.

In the accompanying drawings we have illustrated a preferred embodimentof our.

invention, and also an alternative form, either of which is applicableto the present types of intermittent sprocket machines.

In said drawings, Figure 1 shows our improved framing mechanism invertical section;

Fig. 2 is a side elevation looking in the direction of the arrow 2 ofFig. 1 with the side of the machine casing removed;

Fig. 3 is a horizontal sectional View on line 3--3 of Fig. 1; View online 44 of Fig. 3;

Figs. 5 and 6 are sectional views on line 55 of Fig. 3 showing theframingmechanism in different positions of adjustment;

Fig. .7 is a transverse sectional view of a modified form of framing;and

Fig. 8 is a vertical section on line 8-8 of Fig. 7.

Referring to the drawings, particularly to Figs. 1 and 2, 1 indicatesthe frame of the Fig. 4 is a sectional machine which, as shown, consistsprinoitype described in U. S. Letters Patent No. I

1,129,121 granted to Nicholas Power on the 23rd day of February, 1915.The housing 11 is provided with an extension 13 of circular periphery,forming in effect a large bearing concentric-with the axis of rotationof the intermittent sprocket. The extension 13 is mounted for rotaryadjustment in a vertical web 2 of the machine frame, and by its rotationthe driving member or cam 12 of the intermittent couple is rotatedaround the axis of the pin cross, or driven member 12", of theintermittent couple, whereby the adjustment of the extension 13 in itsbearing will effect a partial rotation of the sprocket in one directionor the other and entirely independent of the intermittent movement givento the sprocket by the intermittent driving gear.

The shaft 15 of the cam 12 is supported in the extension 13 and isdriven through a spur gear 16 mounted on the shaft between the extension13 and the housing 11.

The gear 16 is driven from a spur gear 17 whose shaft 18 iseccentric-ally supported in a bearing block 19 also mounted for rotaryadjustment in the web 2, whereby through a proper rotative adjustment ofthe bearing block 19 and extension 13 in their respective bearings, thegears 16 and 17 may be maintained in mesh and will at the same time begiven such relative movement as to counter act the tendency of eithershaft to rotate about its own axis, asis the case in an epicyclic, orplanetary, gear.

The extension 13 and block 19 may be adjusted through any suitablemechanical connection, and we prefer to use for the purpose a pair ofrack sectors 20 and 21', respectively, supported for oscillation on acommon shaft 22, the sector 20 meshing with a toothed ring or gear 23 onthe end of the bearing block 19., while the sector 21 meshes with asimilar gear or ring of teeth formed on a bushing 24 surrounding theextension 13, the bushing being provided to facilitate the assembling ofthe machine and to hold the extension in place in its bear- 1ng.

The teeth of the bushing 24 are concentric with its axis of rotation andthe teeth of the sector 21 are also concentricwith its axis ofoscillation. The teeth, however, of the bearing block 19 are eccentricto the axis of rotation, as will be apparent from Figs. 5 and 6, whereinthe dotted circle indicates the bearing of the bushing. The sector 20 isshaped to correspond, that is, the toothed periphery of the sector isstruck from a center more distant from the teeth than the center ofoscillation, whereby for a. uniform movement of the extension 13 thebearing block 19 will be given a variable movement at differentpositions of framing adjustment, as will be later described.

The connected sectors 20 and 21 are operated through a link 25 from acrank arm 26 on an oscillating shaft 27 having its bearings at the baseof the web 2- and in the side wall 28 of the gear compartment. The endof the shaft projects through the wall 28, and has the usual framinghandle attached to its projecting end.

The shaft 18 is driven by means of a spur gear 30 formed on the hub ofthe flywheel 31 which is attached to the outer end of the shaft 18, thegear 30 meshing with the internal teeth of a ring gear 32 supported forrotation on a stub shaft 33 set in the outer wall 28 of the gear casingin a position in alinement with the axis of rotation of the bearingblock 19, whereby the gear 30 will remain in mesh with the internalteeth of the ring gear in all its various positions of adjustment.

The hub of the ring gear is formed with a pinion 35 meshing with themain driving gear, or master gear, 36 of the machine,

while the external teeth of the ring gear mesh with a spur gear 37 of atransverse shaft 38 supported in the fixed bearing in the web 2 andcarrying on its inner end a I spiral gear 39 upon which the shuttershaft 10 is continuously driven.

The upper and lower feed sprockets l1 and 42 are also driven from thedriving pinion 35 through an appropriate interme diate gearing, asindicated in Fig. 1, whereby thefilm will be drawn into the machine anddelivered to the takeup reel in the usual manner.

In Figs. 5 and 6 we have shown the adjusted parts of the framingmechanism in two different positions of adjustment. In these figures,the center of the driving cam 12 which is adjusted around the sprocketshaft is marked A, while the center of the shaft 18 which is adjustedaround the center of the bearing block 19 is marked B. From Fig. 5 itwill be noted that centers A and B are in substantial horizontalalinement with the axis of the sprocket shaft, and that the four pins ofthe pin cross 12 are about equidistant from the imaginary horizontalline drawn through the several centers.

In Fig. 6, which shows the position after a framing movement has beeneffected by turning the sectors 20 and 21 in a counterclockwisedirection, the centers A and B have been elevated and the pin cross 12"and with it the intermittent sprocket, has been adjusted in a clockwise.direction through about 4:) degrees, as will be apparent by the changedposition of the upins of the pin cross. During this adjustment there hasbeen no rotation of the shaft 15 about its own axis for the reason thatthe adjustment of the bearing block 19 compensates for the adjustment ofthe extension 13.

As the gear 30 is shifted by the adjustment of the bearing block 19, itsteeth will be maintained in mesh with the internal teeth of the gear 32which will effect a rotation of the shaft 18. Assuming the framingmechanism to be adjusted from the position shown in Fig. 5 to theposition shown in Fig. 6' (approximately a 45-degree move ment of thebearing block 19) the gear 30 will be turned a slight distance. Thisdistance is only a fraction of the number of teeth of the internal gearembraced in the angle of adjustment, and equals roughly the difierencein the number. of teeth between the two gears divided by the numberrepresenting the part of a complete rotation through which the bearingblock is adjusted. In the construction shown in the drawings with thegears 30 and 32 near the same size,-the rotation imparted to the gear 30will be almost negligible.

If the centers A and B are maintained in parallelismduring thisadjustment there will be no compensating adjustment and the shutter andintermediate gear will be thrown out of synchronism to this small extentwhich in practice could be taken care of by slight extra width to theshutter blade if desired. We prefer, however, to.

compensate completely for the slight discrepancy caused by the gearconnection, and to this end, instead of maintaining the centers A and Bin parallelism, the eccentricity of the shaft 15 (as indicated by theradius lines in Fig. 6) is suiliciently greater than the correspondingfactor of the shaft B for the center A to be elevated to a greaterextent than the shaft B, thus giving to the driving pinion 16 a slightadjustment in the opposite direction to the rotative adjust mentproduced by the rotation of the gear 30 about the ring gear 32. As thegears 16 and 17, whose relative movement produces this latteradjustment, are both spur gears, the extent of rotary adjustment isequal directly to the number of teeth encompassed in the angle ofadjustment. Hence, a very slight relative movement of the spur gearswill compensate for a much greater relative movement of the internalgear and spur gear.

By making the sector 20 and toothed collar 23 eccentric in the mannerdescribed,

the gears 16 and 17 will be maintained in exact mesh despite thegreatervertical but smaller angular movement of the shaft 15. In Figs. 7and 8 we have disclosed a modification of our improved framing whichoperates on the same principle but is of somewhat simpler design. Ashere shown, the intermittent sprocket 8 issupported in chine frame. Theshaft 51 is driven through a spur gear 53 from a similar gear at on theend of a shaft 55, which shaft is eccentrically supported in a rotatablyadjustable bearing 56 carried ina bracket 57 attached to one of thevertical walls of the gear compartment of the machine.

The shaft 55 is driven from an internal gear 58 supported on a suitablestub shaft mounted in the side wall of the gear compartment and drivenfrom the master gear 59.

The gears 53 and 54 are preferably maintained in mesh by a link 60connecting the two shafts, and the plate.52 and bearing block 56 areadjusted in. synchronisin by means of worm wheels 61, 62, mounted on thetwo shafts, respectively, and meshing with separate worms 63, 64 on acommon worm shaft 65 supported in suitable bearings, not shown, in themachine frame, and projecting through the rear wall of the machine inposition for the attached crank handle 66 to be conveniently rotated bythe operator to effect the framing.

The compensation of the rotary movement of the driving gear isaccomplished in the same manner in this form of the device as in thepreferred construction, that is, the simultaneous adjustment of the twoshafts 55 and 51 through their respective arcs will compensate one forthe other when the con necting gears, etc., are properly proportioned inthe manner above described.

The link 60 may be omitted as the gears 53 and 54: are adjusted insynchronism by the action of the worm shaft. "We prefer to use it,however, to form a supplemental support for the gear 53 for conveniencein taking down the machine. That is, the link 60 has its bearing on thehub of the gear 53 so that the shaft 51 maybe withdrawn from the gear(to which it is keyed) when the housing 50 is removed from the machine.

By thus maintaining the gears 53 and 5a in mesh when the intermittentmovement is taken down for cleaning or repairs, it is not necessary toreadjust the machine to synchronize the shutter and the gear onassembling, as the parts will necessarily be in proper positionwhen thekey on the shaft 51 is again fitted in the gear 53.

It will of course be understood that various other changes may be madein the design and construction of the parts without departing from thespirit of the invention or the scope of the appended claims.

lVe claim:

1. In framing mechanism for moving picture machines, the combination ofan intersprocket, and means for drivingsaid intermittent sprocketsupported in fixed position, an intermittent couple for operating saidsprocket, a support for the driving shaft of said intermittent couplewhereby it may be rotatably adjusted around the axis of the sprocket,and means for driving said inter- ,mittent couple comprising a drivingshaft having a fixed axis out of alinement with the axis of saidsprocket and intermediate gearing between said driving shaft and thedriving member of said intermittent couple, and gearing arranged toreact on the driving member during the framing adjustment to therebyprevent rotation of said member about its own axis due to saidadjustment.

2. In framing mechanism for moving picture machines, the combination ofan intermittent sprocket supported in fixed position, an intermittentcouple for operating said sprocket, a support for the driving shaft ofsaid intermittent couple whereby it may be rotatably adjusted around theaxis of the mittent couple comprising a driving shaft having a fixedaxis out of alinement with the axis of said sprocket and intermediategearing between said driving shaft and the driving member of saidintermittent couple whereby the rotative adjustment of said drivingmember does not produce a rotation of the driving member about its ownaxis, said gearing comprising an adjustable gear support and independentmeans for adjusting said gear support and the driving member of saidintermittent couple.

3. In framing mechanism for motion picture machines, the combination ofan intermittent sprocket, an intermittent couple for actuating saidsprocket, a support for the driving member of said couple whereby it maybe adjusted around an axis of said sprocket, a driving shaft for saidcouple and an intermediate gearing between said driving shaft and thedriving member of saidcouple, said intermediate gearing comprising agear support adjustable around the axis of said driving shaft, andindependent means for variably adjusting said gear support and thedriving member of said inter mittent couple for effecting a partial r0-tation of the intermittent sprocket and preventing rotation of thedriving member of said intermittent couple about its own axis throughthe movement of its support.

4. ln framing mechanism for moving picture machines, the combination ofan intermittcnt sprocket, a rotatably adjustable member supporting saidsproc et, an intermittent couple for driving said sprocket, the drivingmember of said couple being supported eccentrically in said sprocketsupport, and means for driving said member comprising a gear attached tosaid driving member, an intermeshing gear, an ad ustable support for thelatter gear, and means for for effecting a partial rotation of theintermittent sprocket and preventing rotation of the driving member ofsaid couple about its flXlS.

5. In framing mechanismfor movin picture machines, the combination of'anintermittent sprocket, I a rotatabl adjustable member supporting said.sproc et, an intermittent couple for driving said sprocket, the drivingmember of said couple being supported eccentricall'y in said sprocketsupport, means for driving said member comprising a gear attached tosaid driving member, an intermeshing gear, a rotatably adjustablesupport for said intermeshing gear upon which said intermeshing gear isrotatably mounted, and independent means for adjusting said supports foreffecting a partial rotation of the intermittent sprocket and preventingrotation of the driving member of said couple about its axis.

6. In framing mechanism for moving pic ture machines, the combination ofan intermittent sprocket, a rotatabl adjustable member supporting saidsproc et, an intermittent couple for driving said sprocket, the drivingmember of said couple being supported eccentrically' in said sprocketsupport, means for driving said member comprising a gear attached tosaid driving member, an intermeshing gear, a rotatably adjustablesupport for said intermeshing gear upon which said intermeshing gear isr0- tatably mounted, a driving shaft having a fixed axis, drivingconnections between said driving shaft and said last mentioned gear, andmeans for adjusting both said ad ustable supports for effecting apartial rotation of the intermittent sprocket and preventing rotation ofthe driving member of said couple about its axis. I

7. In a framing mechanism for motion picture machines, the combinationof a driving shaft having a fixed axis of rotation, an adjustablefilm-feeding art, an internal gear carried by said driving shaft andconnections between said gear and said adjustable film-feeding partcomprising a driven gear adjustable around the axis of said internalgear with its teeth in mesh with the teeth of said gear.

8. In a framing mechanism for motion picture machines, the combinationof a filmfeeding mechanism comprising an adjustable part for effectingthe adjustment of the film at the projection aperture of the ma chine,and means for driving said mechanism comprising an internal ear having afixed axis of rotation, a gear riven thereby having its axis adjustablearound the axis of the internal gear, a gear connection between saidlast-named gear and the adjustable part ofsaid film-feeding mechanism,said adjustable part being adjustable in substantial parallelism withthe axis of said last-named gear.

9. In a framing mechanism for motion picture machines, the combinationof a filmafeeding mechanism comprising an adjustable part for eflectingthe adjustment of the film at the projection aperture of the machine,means for' driving said mechanism comprising an internal gear having afixed axis of rotation, a gear driven thereby having its axis adjustablearound the axis of the internal gear, a gear connection between saidlast-named gear and the adjustable part of said film-feeding mechanism,said adjustable part being adjustable in substantial parallelism withthe axis of said last-named gear, and means for slightly varying theparallelism of adjustment to compensate for the rotative advance of saidsecond-mentioned gear through its engagement with the inter-" THEODOREF. UHLEMANN. WILLIAM ELLWOOD.

